Scottish Friendly has announced its assets under management rose to £5.4 billion in 2021 and the mutual financial firm’s membership increased by 31,000 to 776,000.

Scottish Friendly reported record sales of £46.9 million APE (annual premium equivalent) for 2021, up from £42 million.

Sales of Scottish Friendly’s own-brand investment ISAs increased by 17% to £18.4 million and sales of its whole of life, saving and investment and protection products via partners improved by 8% to £28.5 million.

Scottish Friendly currently administers over one million policies across more than 350 product lines.

The mutual said the latest results are the strongest in its 160-year history — and the first following the death of former CEO Jim Galbraith in April last year.

Scottish Friendly CEO Stephen McGee took over leadership of the business earlier this month following Martin Pringle’s role as acting chief executive.

McGee said: “It has been another incredible year for Scottish Friendly given current circumstances and with so much market and economic uncertainty.

“These results are testament to Jim and his legacy.

“The success of this last year would not have been possible without him or Martin, who has done a brilliant job in leading the business since Jim’s passing.

“We know that Scottish Friendly has a bright future, but there are still plenty of short-term challenges ahead.

“We are emerging from the worst of the pandemic, but the UK and the rest of Europe faces fresh uncertainty with a rising cost of living crisis.

“This will impact global markets and businesses, however with a 160-year history, Scottish Friendly is well equipped to achieve our objective to provide long-term sustainable growth in value for our members during turbulent periods.

“With the team we have in place, I have no doubt that the business will continue to go from strength to strength, and we are confident we can become the leading mutual insurance organisation in the UK, showcasing the very best of what mutuality has to offer.”